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Opening today at the Museum of Chinese in America, “Marvels and Monsters” chronicles 40 years of Asian figures in American comics, from racist caricatures of World War II propaganda through the 1980s, accompanied by commentary from Asian-American comics creators such as Larry Hama, Gene Luen Yang, and Ken Chen. (One wince-inducing exhibit, “Shades of Yellow,” compares skin tones in comics to their garish Pantone equivalents.) Sister exhibition “Alt.Comics” features work by Asian-American creators in a modern, indie-comics context; Yang’s American Born Chinese, for example, presents a rich portrait that still grapples with a legacy of outsiderness. Mondays-Sundays, 10 a.m. Starts: Sept. 30. Continues through Feb. 24, 2012

Rob Staeger is a regular film contributor at Voice Media Group and its film partner, the Village Voice. VMG publications include LA Weekly, Denver Westword, Phoenix New Times, Miami New Times, Broward-Palm Beach New Times, Houston Press and Dallas Observer.